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Libya offers to compensate Pan Am 103 Families

Ethan Hawke

12:56 / 29.05.02

Libya has offered to compensate families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. The compensation is contigent upon the ending of UN and US sanctions against the pariah nation, however.

From the Article:

"These are uncharted waters," said Jim Kreindler in the statement. "It is the first time that any of the states designated as sponsors of terrorism have offered compensation to families of terror victims.

Whaddya think? Did sanctions, in this case, and a long period of ostracism, work in order to bring Qaddafi back into line? Is Libya willing to rejoin the international community now? Are monetary reparations enough for Libya to be "forgiven" for what it "sponsored"? Is Libya a "terrorist state" any longer? Should US/UN sanctions be lifted?

Ethan Hawke

12:58 / 29.05.02

Whoops. Forgot to Link to the article

netbanshee

16:09 / 29.05.02

Guess it's better than not caring, but I think since they feel reparations are in order, they should come before a bargaining scenario is established. It should be a means to establish a new consideration by the UN and US. Currently it puts some of the reponsibility out of their hands which doesn't seem reasonable.

Mystery Gypt

16:52 / 29.05.02

and then, moments later, Libya Denies Making Lockerbie Compensation Offer

Harold Washington died for you

17:03 / 29.05.02

Quoted from Reuters wire on Yahoo:

"Jana [Libyan state-run news agency] quoted the spokesman as saying that all Libya knew was that Libyan businessmen, joined by legal experts, held meetings with families of the victims and did not inform Libya officially of the outcome."

Gist is that mysterious "businessmen" put up the 2.7bil and the Libyan government had nothing to do with it. Seems reasonable, the Tripoli Chamber of Commerce wants to do business with the West again... but for some reason my Conspiracy-Sense is tingling. What is so important about getting off the U.S. states sponsoring terrorism list to "businessmen", when they could have the UN sanctions lifted for only 1bil and start making lots of money right away? More importantly, why would Libya deny any participation with this plan that, while callously pinning a price on wrongfully murdered and _still_ asking for concessions, is still a step towards normal relations?

Mourne Kransky

18:58 / 29.05.02

There is an age old custom in the Arab world of paying "blood money" to those bereaved through your fault so I guess this may make sense there. Whilst accepting that the inherent admission of culpability is a positive step, I find the whole business of trying to assuage grief or guilt with cash puzzling, and fairly offensive.

pointless and uncalled for

19:13 / 29.05.02

Some families of the victims of Pan Am flight 103 bombing have mentioned compensation as an issue related to their situation.

As yet no one has come up with a better alternative of compensation than cold hard cash.

Mystery Gypt

20:28 / 29.05.02

yeah, being puzzled seems a strange reaction, given that monetary compensation is pretty much the foundation of our civil precedings. christ,for how many months did we have to here about the intricacies of payouts to the WTC families?

it's also a clever way to deal with culpability without admitting responsibility -- c.f., OJ Simpson.

i'm not clear on the details of the pan am flight, and libya's role -- can someone give a recap? i didn't see it recounted very well in the news articles... maybe i just missed it.

Morlock - groupie for hire

11:34 / 31.05.02

Maybe they're just trying to stay off the US government's "places we'd like to bomb to make us feel better" list.

gozer the destructor

11:46 / 31.05.02

Apparently Lybia has denied this. I mean the payout, not the keeping off the hit list, although not all together a bad idea...

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